The Upper Room Daily Devotional Nashville, Tennessee, United States “In God’s Image" for Sunday, 25 January 2015 - Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31

The Upper Room Daily Devotional Nashville, Tennessee, United States “In God’s Image" for Sunday, 25 January 2015 - Scripture: Genesis 1:26 God said, “Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures.”
27 So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. 28 God gave them his blessing and said:
Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.
29 I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat. 30 And I have given the green plants as food for everything else that breathes. These will be food for animals, both wild and tame, and for birds.
31 God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came and then morning—that was the sixth day.
Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite said, “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”[Job 33:4 (NRSV)]
Several years ago, while browsing in an antique shop, my husband and I came across a display of crocks created by a local potter who had made them well over 100 years before. The crocks had been discarded by the potter because they had become misshapen in the firing process. He put the rejected pots in the scrap pit behind his business. Then, over the years, the potter’s work became well known and highly collectable. When the damaged crocks were excavated from the pit, they were considered valuable — not because they were beautiful or even functional but because of who had made them.
The story of these pots reminds me of the nature of God’s children. We are all misshapen in some way. But each of us is made in the image of God, our creator. As with the crocks, our worth does not come from how we look or how functional we are. We are valuable because of who made us.
After viewing the results of creating the world and everything in it, God said that it was very good. We may sometimes view our fellow humans as less than good. But we are each made in God’s image. Our worth, our value, comes from God.
The Author: Mary Jane Hoffmaster (Pennsylvania, USA)
Thought for the Day: Every single person on earth was created in the image of God.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to see others through your eyes, remembering that each of us is made in your image. Amen.
Prayer focus: Potters
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